Bollywood shares wish-list for eradicating corruption

As young IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal finds herself in the middle of a huge controversy, we talk to Bollywood actors about the one area of corruption that they would take on if they were IAS officers for a day in India.

As young IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal finds herself in the middle of a huge controversy (she’s been reprimanded for demolishing the wall of a mosque in Noida.

Her supporters, however, say an honest officer is being punished for taking on the sand mining mafia), we talk to Bollywood actors about the one area of corruption that they would take on if they were IAS officers for a day in India.

Deepika Padukone: sports infrastructureI would really like to do something for sports infrastructure in our country. It’s my strong belief that sports in our life is as important as anything else. We really need to develop good infrastructure for sports at the grassroots level. So I would love to do whatever I can for sports and sportspersons.

Ayushmann Khurrana: politics of discriminationIt’s an irony that our super-educated civil servants are headed by not-so-educated politicians. The corruption of caste- and class-based politics needs to be eradicated. If the trend continues, there will be no unity in diversity. Our diverse culture is our strength and also our biggest weakness.

Raveena Tandon: illegal encroachmentI would work towards stopping illegal encroachment because they are the main reason for deforestation, especially in Mumbai. There are about 35,000 slums inside the national park in the city and then people complain when a leopard attacks them. All of this is due to illegal encroachment. If I was given a chance, even if just for a day, I would try my best to curb it.

Irrfan Khan: illegal constructionsAt the pan-India level, I would really take on illegal constructions. Look at Mumbai itself. Builders often don’t even get full permission for things like fire exits, but still, buildings are constructed and people start living in them. Also, Mumbai is grappled by problems concerning the municipality. So I would try to fix those issues.

Huma Qureshi: healthcare and educationAs an individual and an Indian, I feel corruption is clearly the biggest plague. We must work against it. And not just as an IAS officer, but as a common person too, I would love to do something about corruption prevalent in our healthcare and education system — every Indian must have the right to these two things.

Arjun Kapoor: infrastructural developmentI’d make sure that we remove all the corruption that’s holding back infrastructural progress, to encourage the development of basic amenities like hospitals, roads and schools etc. If we can’t provide for our present, corruption should be eradicated for a decent future.